ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit apologized Tuesday after he suggested the University of Michigan could use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to dodge a scheduled game with Ohio State.
Herbstreit, who attended Ohio State and played quarterback for the school, initially mocked the embattled Michigan program and suggested the Wolverines didn’t want to play Ohio State in order to keep their archrivals out of the Big Ten Championship game.
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit apologized Tuesday after suggesting the University of Michigan could use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to dodge a scheduled game with Ohio State. (Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
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The undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked No. 4 in the nation but have only played four games and need six to qualify for the Big Ten title game. College football has seen multiple games canceled or postponed because of various coronavirus outbreaks and the ESPN analyst noted that the 2-4 Michigan program could keep the Buckeyes out of the championship if the game cannot be played.
“I still think Michigan waves the white flag, potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week, and then they’ll potentially get a game on the 19th,” Herbstreit said. “Michigan could opt out, basically, of that game, and keep Ohio State out of six games to qualify for the Big Ten championship. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Later in the evening, Herbstreit took to Twitter to clarify and apologize for saying Michigan could use the pandemic to avoid the game.
“I had no business at all saying that, I have no evidence of that. It was completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches, and I just wanted to apologize,” Herbstreit said.
“We all go through some ups and downs, many downs for a lot of people during this COVID crisis that we’re all in. And for me, in college football, I really struggle with where we are. Players opting out, teams canceling games, it just seems like it’s a downward spiral,” he continued. “I think, typically I try to remain positive and upbeat, and I think sometimes we all have our breaking points and I think right now, at Week 14 with so much negativity surrounding the sport, I think that’s sometime a pressure point for me.”
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Herbstreit then repeated the apology, saying he “misspoke” and his comments were “completely uncalled for.”
“I take a lot of pride in being fair and I was not fair tonight and I apologize,” he said.
